Method of depositing materials on a non-planar surface

ABSTRACT

A method of depositing materials on a non-planar surface is disclosed. The method is effectuated by rotating non-planar substrates as they travel down a translational path of a processing chamber. As the non-planar substrates simultaneously rotate and translate down a processing chamber, the rotation exposes the whole or any desired portion of the surface area of the non-planar substrates to the deposition process, allowing for uniform deposition as desired. Alternatively, any predetermined pattern is able to be exposed on the surface of the non-planar substrates. Such a method effectuates manufacture of non-planar semiconductor devices, including, but not limited to, non-planar light emitting diodes, non-planar photovoltaic cells, and the like.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/801,469, filed on May 9, 2007 and entitled “METHOD OF DEPOSITINGMATERIALS ON A NON-PLANAR SURFACE,” which claims priority under 35U.S.C. §119(e) from the U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/922,290, filed on Apr. 5, 2007, and titled “METHOD OF DEPOSITINGMATERIALS ON A NON-PLANAR SURFACE.” [T]he U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/801,469, filed on May 9, 2007 and entitled “METHOD OF DEPOSITINGMATERIALS ON A NON-PLANAR SURFACE” and the U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/922,290, filed on Apr. 5, 2007, and titled“METHOD OF DEPOSITING MATERIALS ON A NON-PLANAR SURFACE are herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to semiconductor processing apparatusand techniques. Specifically, the present invention is directed tosemiconductor processing on non-planar surfaces using both translationaland rotational geometries.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In many conventional semiconductor processing technologies, the specificprocessing steps are typically performed using planar motions. Forexample, most integrated circuits (ICs) are typically made withmachinery using solely planar motion. This is due to the implicitstructure of most conventional ICs, which are almost always planar innature. Accordingly, the necessary depositions, doping, and scribingsteps are almost always performed using planar motions with the deviceor the IC being moved in an x or y direction.

In this manner, semiconductor processing steps can be performed on anassembly line basis with the various devices and/or substrates beingmoved through the various pieces of semiconductor machinery. Asdescribed herein, such semiconductor processing steps can includedeposition steps such as physical deposition, chemical deposition,reactive sputtering deposition, or molecular beam epitaxy deposition.All variants of the preceding deposition families should be consideredas such semiconductor processing steps.

It should be understood that the semiconductor techniques described areall well known and performed on a common basis with regards tosemiconductor devices having planar features. Accordingly, the variouslayers that are created on the planar substrate and/or IC can be doneeasily and cheaply, but only if the corresponding semiconductor deviceis planar in nature.

Accordingly, in current conventional practice, semiconductormanufacturing techniques and/or processing steps, such as deposition,evaporation, and scribing, although well known, are typically limited tooperating on these substantially planar substrates. For example, FIG. 1Ashows an exemplary prior art sputter deposition chamber 10. Sputterdeposition is a method of depositing thin films onto a substrate 11 bysputtering a block of source material 12 onto the substrate 11. Sputterdeposition typically takes place in a vacuum. Sputtered atoms ejectedinto the gas phase are not in their thermodynamic equilibrium state, andtend to deposit on all surfaces in the vacuum chamber. A substrate (suchas a wafer) placed in the chamber will be coated with a thin film of thesource material 12. Sputtering typically takes place with argon plasma,or another inert gas in a plasma state, as well as the target material(i.e. a semiconductive material, a metallic material, or a buffermaterial).

Evaporation deposition is another common method of thin film depositionas shown in FIG. 1B. The source material 12 is exposed to a hightemperature such that the material is evaporated in a vacuum. The vacuumallows vapor particles to travel directly to the target substrate, wherethey condense back to a solid state.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A shows a prior art sputter chamber for deposition of materials ona substantially planar semiconductor substrate.

FIG. 1B shows a prior art evaporation deposition chamber.

FIG. 2 shows an example of non-planar substrates per the instantdisclosure.

FIG. 3A shows an example of non-planar substrates being loaded into aprocessing chamber per the instant disclosure.

FIG. 3B shows an exemplary means for rotation per the instantdisclosure.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary cross section of a processing chamber with thenon-planar substrates rotating down a translational path.

FIG. 5A shows an exemplary combination of rotation and translation ofthe non-planar substrates.

FIG. 5B shows an exemplary combination of rotation and translation ofthe non-planar substrates.

FIG. 6A shows an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6B shows another aspect of the alternate embodiment of the FIG. 6A.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a method of depositing material on anon-planar substrate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Methods and apparatuses directed to deposition of semiconductormaterials and other materials in the manufacture of semiconductordevices on non-planar surfaces are described herein. In general, thedeposition of materials on non-planar semiconductor substrates isenvisioned. In this specification and claims, the term “substrate” canrefer to an actual base upon which materials common to semiconductormanufacturing are deposited, or a partially built-up device alreadyhaving one or more materials already deposited. In this specificationand claims, the term “non-planar” can refer to any substrate that is notsubstantially planar in construction (i.e. one that does not lieessentially in a two dimensional, substantially relatively flatsurface).

Examples of non-planar surfaces include surfaces having an arcuatefeature, or surfaces having more than one flat surface conjoined indiffering two-dimensional planes. Such non-planar surfaces can include“open surfaces” (i.e. “sheets”), or “closed surfaces” (i.e. rods, tubes,among others). Such closed surfaces are able to be solid in nature (i.e.rods), hollow (i.e. tubes), and can include those surfaces havingindentations (i.e. cylinders). The closed surfaces can be of anycross-sectional geometry, and such cross-section can include curvedfeatures, arcuate features, linear features, or any combination thereof.The cross-sectional geometry can include curved geometries (i.e. circlesand ovals), or any linear geometry (squares, rectangles, triangles, orany n-faced geometry, regular and irregular). The previous examples ofnon-planar geometries are exemplary in nature, and the reader will notethat many differing non-planar geometries are possible and should beconsidered as part of this specification. The shapes are able to becircular, ovoid, or any shape characterized by smooth curved surfaces,or any splice of smooth curved surfaces. The shapes are also able to belinear in nature, including triangular, rectangular, pentangular,hexagonal, or having any number of linear segmented surfaces. Or, thecross-section is able to be bounded by any combination of linearsurfaces, arcuate surfaces, or curved surfaces.

The present disclosure will be described relative to semiconductordeposition on tubular substrates. However, it will be apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art that teachings of this disclosure are able tobe directly applied to the deposition of other types of useful materialson a wide variety of non-planar surfaces. Moreover, while the teachingsherein are directed towards semiconductor deposition, it will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that teachings of thisinvention are able to be directly applied to technologies requiringdeposition of materials on a variety of non-planar surfaces including,but not limited to, manufacture of non-planar photovoltaic cells,non-planar LEDs, gold plating, chrome plating, and the like. Thefollowing detailed description of the present invention is illustrativeonly and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments ofthe present invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilledpersons having the benefit of this disclosure.

Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the presentinvention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The drawings maynot be to scale. The same reference indicators will be used throughoutthe drawings and the following detailed description to refer toidentical or like elements. In the interest of clarity, not all of theroutine features of the implementations described herein are shown anddescribed. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development ofany such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specificdecisions must be made in order to achieve the developers specificgoals, such as compliance with application, safety regulations andbusiness related constraints, and that these specific goals will varyfrom one implementation to another and from one developer to another.Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort will bea routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in theart having the benefit of this disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a method and/or apparatus for depositingsemiconductor materials on non-planar substrates. A non-planar substrate205 is characterized by a cross-section bounded by any one of a numberof shapes. As described herein, for ease of discussion only, a circularcross-section is described in conjunction with the described invention,but any non-planar geometry may be used. In this embodiment, thenon-planar substrate 205 is hollow within its body, or has anindentation. Each non-planar substrate 205 is fitted with at least onemandrel 215. The mandrels 215 are inserted into the hollow portion orthe indentation of the non-planar substrates 205. In some embodiments,the mandrels 215 couple within the hollow portion of the non-planarsubstrates 205 such that contact loci 216 between the mandrel 215 andthe non-planar substrates 205 maintain sufficient contact and effectuatesufficient torque to allow for a rotation of the non-planar substrates205 along a longitudinal axis without unwanted slippage, which couldcause undesired or unplanned rotation. As the mandrels rotate, thesubstrate 205 also rotates. The contacting surface of the mandrels maybe smooth. In one case, the hollow or indented features of the mandrelsmight have a pattern associated with it, and the mandrel might have a“locking” pattern associated with it. In this example, the substrate andthe mandrel may be “mated.” One example of a locking pattern would be anexample of any number of “gear teeth” associated with a matchedgear-tooth feature that would accomplish this locking.

As illustrated in FIG. 3A, the non-planar substrates 205 are shownloaded onto trays 210 for processing. The tray 210 is shown carrying thenon-planar substrates 205 to be loaded into an exemplary chamber 300 ofa chambered deposition system. In some embodiments, the non-planarsubstrates 205 are fixed to the tray 210 such that a surface of thenon-planar substrates is elevated from the top surface of the tray 210.Of course, the top surfaces of the substrates need not be elevated abovethe top surface of the tray. The top surface of the tray may be abovethe top surface of any substrate, below the top surface of anysubstrate, or coincide with the top surface of any substrate. Of course,the substrates could also have any number of orientations with respectto the top level of the tray in combination with any number with anotherorientation with the top level of the tray.

The exemplary deposition chamber 300 in this example can be a sputterdeposition system, a reactive sputter deposition system, an evaporationdeposition system or any combination thereof, where the system has atleast one chamber where material is deposited on a substrate and atleast one target deposition material. Alternatively, the exemplarydeposition chamber 300 is able to be any chamber useful for depositingor growing thin films on a substrate. The atmospheres within the chambercan be of any sort that enables the semiconductor process, including awide range of temperatures, wide ranges of pressures, and wide ranges ofchemistries (including a lack of atmosphere as might be common in a truevacuum chamber).

In some embodiments, the chambered deposition system has an ingress andan egress, where the path between the ingress and egress determines atranslational path down which the non-planar substrates 205 travel. Thetray 210 is able to be loaded manually by a technician or by anautomated system, or by any other convenient vehicle. In someembodiments, as the trays 210 enter and translate through the chamber300, the mandrels 215 begin to rotate the non-planar substrates 205along their longitudinal axes. The translation motion through thechamber can be effectuated by, for example, a linear drive mechanism212, although any means may be used to effectuate translational motionof the substrate(s) through the processing system.

In one embodiment, the trays 210 are able to be magnetically coupled tothe linear drive mechanism 212. In this case they do not physicallycontact the chamber 300, which may result in enhanced uniformdeposition.

FIG. 3B shows an exemplary embodiment of a rotation mechanism forrotating the non-planar substrates 205 as they translate down or throughthe chamber 300. In this exemplary embodiment, a gear and pulley system220 is operatively coupled to the mandrel 215. In some embodiments, thegear and pulley system comprises teeth 221. Corresponding to the teeth221, the linear drive mechanism 212 has matching teeth 213 (FIG. 3A). Insome embodiments, as the tray continues in the translational direction,the teeth 221 on the gear and pulley system 220 catch the matching teeth213 in the linear drive mechanism 212, enabling the gear and pulleysystem 220 to rotate the non-planar substrates 205 down thetranslational path. Such rotation enables deposition of a semiconductormaterial on the entire surface areas of the non-planar substrates 205.Alternatively, any predetermined portion of the surface area of thenon-planar substrates 205 is able to be exposed to deposition. In afurther alternative embodiment, any predetermined pattern is able to bedeposited on the surface area. Further by way of example, in anotherembodiment, the teeth 220 are able to be affixed to the mandrel 215.

In another embodiment, dual sets of gear pulley systems may be used, andused to drive not just a single mandrel, but numerous mandrels at thesame time. Or, a magnetic system can be used to accomplish the rotation.In this embodiment, the force used to power the rotation mechanism comesnot from a physically linked source such as the gear pulley systemdescribed. The mandrels may be physically linked to a magnetic material.External magnets can be provided and rotated, thus imparting therotation of the external magnets to the magnetic material through anassociated magnetic field, where the rotation is physically imparted tothe mandrel and the substrates.

In yet another embodiment, the substrate may be fitted into a sleevewhich is coupled to a drive mechanism. The sleeve imparts the rotationforce to the exterior of the substrate.

In yet another embodiment, the ends of the substrate may be placedbetween rollers. The rollers impart the rotation to the substrate on theexterior of the substrate at the ends of the substrate. In the previoustwo embodiments, the ends of the substrate do not necessarily receivethe deposition due to the interaction of the rollers. In someapplications, the lack of deposition material at these ends may notnecessarily defeat the purpose of the deposition in toto, and therotation of the substrate by applying a force to the external surface ofthe substrate may be entirely appropriate.

Accordingly, it can be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the artthat other alternative means or methods of rotation are able to beincorporated herein, and many alternative means or methods oftranslation are able to be incorporated herein to achieve the end resultof rotation of the non-planar substrates 205 during the translationalmotion through the chamber 300. This disclosure should be read toinclude those types of mechanisms to impart a rotation to thesubstrates.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary cross section of a first deposition chambersuch as the chamber 300. By way of example, the chamber 300 is the firstchamber of a Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) sputter system. Aninert plasma gas such as argon 305 is fired into the chamber 300 via anintake 310. Upon entering the chamber, the plasma gas molecules 305collide with a sputtering target 315. By way of example, the sputtertargets 315, 316 and 317 are Selenium, Copper and Gallium respectively.As the inert plasma gas 305 bombards the targets 315, 316, 317,molecules of the target materials leave thermal equilibrium and begincoating all surfaces within the chamber 300. In some embodiments, thenon-planar substrates 205 continue rotating about their longitudinalaxes as they translate through the chamber 300, such that the whole oftheir outer surface areas will be coated by the molecules of thesputtering targets 315, 316, 317. The rates of rotation as well as therate of translation through the chamber 300 are able to be predeterminedas functions of the sputtering target materials, the ambienttemperature, the temperature and kinetic energy of the plasma gas 305and the desired thickness of the coating upon non-planar substrates 205,among other factors.

Control and measurement systems can be used to manage and control therates of translation and rotation. The rates can be constant, ordynamic. The relationship between the rate of translation and a rate ofrotation can be fixed, such as depicted in the system employing thegear-pulley system. The relationship between the rate of translation androtation can be varied and/or controlled, such as varying the rate ofrotation in the magnetically coupled system. The rate of translation andthe rate of rotation can be coupled or can be independent. When eachsubstrate is individually rotated, the rates between differingsubstrates can be the same of differing. The rotation can be analog innature, or can occur in discrete steps. The translation can be analog innature, or occur in discrete steps. Further, both the rotation and thetranslation can occur individually as analog, individually as discretesteps, or in varying combinations.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show exemplary rotation and translation combinations forthe non-planar substrates 205 as they enter and move through the chamber300. In some embodiments, the non-planar substrates 205 are rotatingabout their longitudinal axes via mandrels 215 fixed to the tray 210. InFIG. 5A, the non-planar substrates 205 translate through the chamber 300lengthwise as they rotate. In FIG. 5B, the non-planar substrates 205translate through the chamber 300 widthwise. In both exemplaryembodiments, the non-planar substrates 205 rotate concurrently and/orsimultaneously as they translate through the chamber 300.

FIG. 6A shows a further embodiment of the present invention. Non-planarsubstrates 205 are individually loaded into a processing chamber 300. Inthis example, the chamber 300 comprises a door 302 capable of hermeticsealing. By way of example, the processing chamber 300 is a CIGS sputterdeposition chamber. Alternatively, the processing chamber 300 is able tobe any convenient chamber to suit processing needs for a givenapplication. In this exemplary embodiment, the non-planar substrates 205are affixed with mandrels 215 into the hollow portion of their bodies.In some embodiments, the mandrels 215 couple within the hollow portionof the non-planar substrates 205 such that the contact between themandrel 215 and the non-planar substrates 205 maintains sufficientcontact and effectuate sufficient torque to allow for a rotation of thenon-planar substrates 205 without unwanted slipping causing undesired orunplanned rotation. The mandrels 215 protrude outward from thenon-planar substrates 205. In this alternative embodiment, the ingress610 of the chamber 300 comprises inlets 615 which open to tracks 620down the length of the chamber 300. The inlets 615 are preferablyconfigured to accept the mandrels 215 affixed to the non-planarsubstrates 205. When the mandrels 215 are inserted into inlets 615, alinear drive mechanism effectuates translation down the length of thechamber 300. In some embodiments, the linear drive mechanism furthereffectuates rotation of the non-planar substrates 205 along theirlengthwise axis, such that molecules of a sputter target are exposed tothe whole of the surfaces of the non-planar substrates 205. As statedabove, the rates of translation as well as rotation of the non-planarsubstrates 205 can be functions of the desired deposition thickness onthe surface of the non-planar substrates 205, the ambient temperature ofthe chamber 300, the kinetic energy of the sputtering gas, or thephysical properties of the target material. FIG. 6B shows the non-planarsubstrate 205 rotating down the translational path of the chamber 300.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram for the method of depositing materials on anon-planar substrate. Step 601 comprises providing a processing chamber.The processing chamber is able to be a sputter deposition chamber, areactive deposition chamber, or any deposition chamber called for by adesired application. Step 602 comprises providing means for rotating thenon-planar substrates about a longitudinal axis. In some embodiments,step 602 occurs concurrently with the step 603. Step 603 comprisesmoving the non-planar substrates down a translational path. Atranslational path is defined as the path between the ingress and egressof the processing chamber. The non-planar substrates are able totranslate down the path either lengthwise or widthwise. Step 604comprises performing at least one semiconductor processing step. In someembodiments, the step of performing at least one semiconductorprocessing step 604 is done simultaneously with the steps 602 and 603.

In operation, the present invention is able to be used to manufacturenon-planar semiconductor devices by rotating non-planar substrates asthey move down a translational path of a processing chamber. Rotationand translation are able to be effectuated by any known or convenientmeans, including, but not limited to a linear drive mechanism and a gearand pulley mechanism. The combination of rotational and translationalmotion provides for deposition of materials on the outer surface of thenon-planar substrate during processing. Alternatively, such a rotationaland translational processing system is able to be applied to powdercoating, chrome plating, or other metal plating. Insemiconductor-related applications, a tubular substrate is able to beprocessed into a tubular, non-planar light emitting diode (LED). Furtherby way of example, a tubular substrate is able to be processed into anon-planar photovoltaic cell. Such a photovoltaic cell is able to have agreater surface area incidental to the sun's rays allowing for greatercurrent generation.

A method of depositing materials on a non-planar surface is disclosed.The method is effectuated by rotating non-planar substrates as theytravel down a translational path of a processing chamber. As thenon-planar substrates simultaneously rotate and translate down aprocessing chamber, the rotation exposes the whole or any desiredportion of the surface area of the non-planar substrates to thedeposition process, allowing for uniform deposition as desired.Alternatively, any predetermined pattern is able to be exposed on thesurface of the non-planar substrates. Such a method effectuatesmanufacture of non-planar semiconductor devices, including, but notlimited to, non-planar light emitting diodes, non-planar photovoltaiccells, and the like.

In a first aspect of the present invention, a method of semiconductorprocessing onto a substrate comprises providing a semiconductor processchamber having an ingress and an egress, wherein the ingress and egressare operable to allow passage of at least one substrate therethrough,moving the at least one substrate down a translational path through thesemiconductor process chamber, rotating the at least one substrate asthe substrate moves down the translational path through thesemiconductor process chamber and performing a semiconductor process onthe at least one substrate concurrently with the rotation of the atleast one substrate down the translational path such that at least aportion of the surface area of the at least one substrate is exposed tothe semiconductor process. In some embodiments, the substrate isnon-planar. A path between the ingress and egress is the translationalpath. The at least one substrate is loaded on a tray with a plurality ofother substrates for increased throughput. A rate of rotation isdetermined as a function of variables from among a list comprised oftype and process temperature, deposited material, desired depositionthickness, ambient temperature within the process chamber and quality ofa vacuum condition within the process chamber and desired depositionarea. A rate of translation is determined as a function of variablesfrom among a list comprised of type and process temperature, depositedmaterial, desired deposition thickness, ambient temperature within theprocess chamber and quality of a vacuum condition within the processchamber and desired deposition area. The semiconductor process comprisesany among a list including but not limited to sputter deposition,reactive sputter deposition and evaporation deposition. In someembodiments, the semiconductor process chamber comprises a depositionchamber. In some embodiments, the rotation comprises rotating the atleast one substrate about a lengthwise axis.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of forming asemiconductor device comprises providing a semiconductor process chamberhaving an ingress and an egress, wherein the ingress and egress areoperable to allow passage of at least one non-planar substratetherethrough, moving the at least one non-planar substrate through thesemiconductor process chamber, wherein moving comprises rotating the atleast one non-planar substrate and translating the non-planar substratedown a translational path through the semiconductor process chamber andconcurrently while moving the at least one non-planar substrate throughthe semiconductor process chamber, depositing a layer of semiconductormaterial on the non-planar substrate, the layer encompassing at least75% of a circumference of the at least one non-planar substrate. A pathbetween the ingress and egress is the translational path. The at leastone non-planar substrate is loaded on a tray with a plurality of othernon-planar substrates for increased throughput. A rate of rotation isdetermined as a function of variables from among a list comprised oftype and process temperature, deposited material, desired depositionthickness, ambient temperature within the process chamber and quality ofa vacuum condition within the process chamber and desired depositionarea. A rate of translation is determined as a function of variablesfrom among a list comprised of type and process temperature, depositedmaterial, desired deposition thickness, ambient temperature within theprocess chamber and quality of a vacuum condition within the processchamber and desired deposition area. In some embodiments, thesemiconductor process chamber comprises a deposition chamber. In someembodiments, the rotation comprises rotating the at least one non-planarsubstrate about a lengthwise axis.

In another aspect of the invention, a method of depositing material on anon-planar surface comprises providing a deposition chamber having aningress and an egress, wherein the ingress and egress are operable toallow passage of at least one non-planar substrate therethrough, movingthe at least one non-planar substrate down a translational path throughthe deposition chamber and rotating the at least one non-planarsubstrate as the non-planar substrate moves down the translational paththrough the deposition chamber and performing at least one semiconductordeposition on the at least one non-planar substrate concurrently withthe rotation of the at least one non-planar substrate down thetranslational path such that at least a portion of the surface area ofthe at least one non-planar substrate is exposed to the semiconductordeposition. A path between the ingress and egress is the translationalpath. The at least one non-planar substrate is loaded on a tray with aplurality of other non-planar substrates for increased throughput. Arate of rotation is determined as a function of variables from among alist comprised of type and process temperature, deposited material,desired deposition thickness, ambient temperature within the processchamber and quality of a vacuum condition within the process chamber anddesired deposition area. A rate of translation is determined as afunction of variables from among a list comprised of type and processtemperature, deposited material, desired deposition thickness, ambienttemperature within the process chamber and quality of a vacuum conditionwithin the process chamber and desired deposition area. In someembodiments, the rotation comprises rotating the at least one non-planarsubstrate about a lengthwise axis.

In still a further aspect, an apparatus for semiconductor processingonto a non-planar substrate comprises a semiconductor process chamberhaving an ingress and an egress, wherein the ingress and egress areoperable to allow passage of at least one non-planar substratetherethrough, means for moving the at least one non-planar substratedown a translational path through the semiconductor process chamber,means for rotating the at least one non-planar substrate as thenon-planar substrate moves down the translational path through thesemiconductor process chamber and means for performing a semiconductorprocess on the at least one non-planar substrate concurrently with therotation of the at least one non-planar substrate down the translationalpath such that at least a portion of the surface area of the at leastone non-planar substrate is exposed to the semiconductor process. A pathbetween the ingress and egress is the translational path. The at leastone non-planar substrate is loaded on a tray with a plurality of othernon-planar substrates for increased throughput. A rate of rotation isdetermined as a function of variables from among a list comprised oftype and process temperature, deposited material, desired depositionthickness, ambient temperature within the process chamber and quality ofa vacuum condition within the process chamber and desired depositionarea. A rate of translation is determined as a function of variablesfrom among a list comprised of type and process temperature, depositedmaterial, desired deposition thickness, ambient temperature within theprocess chamber and quality of a vacuum condition within the processchamber and desired deposition area. The semiconductor process is anyamong a list comprised of sputter deposition, reactive sputterdeposition and evaporation deposition. In some embodiments, thesemiconductor process chamber comprises a deposition chamber. In someembodiments, the rotation comprises rotating the at least one non-planarsubstrate about a lengthwise axis.

In still a further aspect, an apparatus for semiconductor processingonto a non-planar substrate comprises a semiconductor process chamberhaving an ingress and an egress, wherein the ingress and egress areoperable to allow passage of at least one non-planar substratetherethrough, a motion mechanism for moving the at least one non-planarsubstrate down a translational path through the semiconductor processchamber, a rotation mechanism for rotating the at least one non-planarsubstrate as the non-planar substrate moves down the translational paththrough the semiconductor process chamber and a semiconductor processmodule coupled to the semiconductor process chamber for performing asemiconductor process on the at least one non-planar substrateconcurrently with the rotation of the at least one non-planar substratedown the translational path such that at least a portion of the surfacearea of the at least one non-planar substrate is exposed to thesemiconductor process. A path between the ingress and egress is thetranslational path. The at least one non-planar substrate is loaded on atray with a plurality of other non-planar substrates for increasedthroughput. A rate of rotation is determined as a function of variablesfrom among a list comprised of type and process temperature, depositedmaterial, desired deposition thickness, ambient temperature within theprocess chamber and quality of a vacuum condition within the processchamber and desired deposition area. A rate of translation is determinedas a function of variables from among a list comprised of type andprocess temperature, deposited material, desired deposition thickness,ambient temperature within the process chamber, quality of a vacuumcondition within the process chamber and desired deposition area. Thesemiconductor process is any among a list comprised of sputterdeposition, reactive sputter deposition and evaporation deposition. Insome embodiments, the semiconductor process chamber comprises adeposition chamber. In some embodiments, the rotation comprises rotatingthe at least one non-planar substrate about a lengthwise axis.

In another aspect, a semiconductor process chamber comprises means formoving at least one substrate in a translational direction therethroughand means for rotating the at least one substrate concurrently while theat least one substrate is moving.

The present application has been described in terms of specificembodiments incorporating details to facilitate the understanding of theprinciples of deposition of materials on a non-planar surface. Many ofthe components shown and described in the various figures are able to beinterchanged to achieve the results necessary, and this descriptionshould be read to encompass such interchange as well. As such,references herein to specific embodiments and details thereof are notintended to limit the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:
 1. An apparatus for semiconductor processing onto a non-planarsubstrate, comprising: a. a hermetically sealable semiconductor processchamber having an ingress and an egress, wherein the ingress and egressare operable to allow passage of at least one non-planar substratetherethrough; b. means adapted and configured for moving the at leastone non-planar substrate down a translational path through thesemiconductor process chamber; c. means adapted and configured formaintaining contact with and controllably rotating the at least onenon-planar substrate as the non-planar substrate moves down thetranslational path through the semiconductor process chamber; and d.means for performing a semiconductor process on the at least onenon-planar substrate concurrently with the rotation of the at least onenon-planar substrate down the translational path such that at least aportion of the surface area of the at least one non-planar substrate isexposed to the semiconductor process.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1wherein a path between the ingress and egress is the translational path.3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a tray loadable with theat least one non-planar substrate and a plurality of other non-planarsubstrates for increased throughput, wherein the ingress is configuredto permit passage of the tray and the means for moving the at least onenon-planar substrate are adapted and configured to move said tray downthe translational path.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein a rate ofrotation is determined as a function of variables from among a listcomprised of type and process temperature, deposited material, desireddeposition thickness, ambient temperature within the process chamber,quality of a vacuum condition within the process chamber and desireddeposition area.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein a rate oftranslation is determined as a function of variables from among a listcomprised of type and process temperature, deposited material, desireddeposition thickness, ambient temperature within the process chamber,quality of a vacuum condition within the process chamber and desireddeposition area.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the semiconductorprocess is any among a list comprised of sputter deposition, reactivesputter deposition and evaporation deposition.
 7. The apparatus of claim1 wherein the semiconductor process chamber comprises a depositionchamber.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for rotating areconfigured to rotate the at least one non-planar substrate about alengthwise axis.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means forperforming the semiconductor process are adapted and configured to reactwith substantially all of the outer surface areas of the non-planarsubstrate.